How this woman lost 110 pounds with 3 simple steps

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May 16, 2017, 8:19 PM GMT / Source: TODAY

By Meghan Holohan

When then 20-year-old Chenise Nupp visited her doctor, she felt shocked to learn that she needed high blood pressure medication and was pre-diabetic. Even though she knew she was “plus-size,” she never thought that the 285 pounds she carried on her 5-foot-8-inch body could affect her health at such a young age.

“I can’t believe I am 20 years old and I am having to take high blood pressure medications,” the now 24-year-old recalled thinking.

But losing weight felt impossible. She had been overweight ever since her parents divorced when she was a toddler, and they gave her food to help her cope with her emotions. A few times she lost weight with crash dieting but she always gained it back — and then some.

“I thought there was nothing I could do. I was always going to be overweight,” she said.

It seemed hopeless, but then a co-worker at her office in Casper, Wyoming, mentioned that her husband recently had weight-loss surgery and was shedding pounds. Nupp decided to visit a doctor for a consultation. For her doctor to perform the surgery, she first had to lose between 10 and 15 pounds.

“They want to know, obviously, you are going to make the changes or surgery won’t work,” she said.

Chenise Nupp's weaknesses for food included starchy snacks, such as chips and crackers.Courtesy Chenise Nupp

Nupp started by cutting carbs and soda and doing some low-impact exercise, such as swimming and walking. She lost exactly 15 pounds and had a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in November 2015. The first few weeks following the surgery, she needed to follow a liquid diet.

Since then she’s stuck to the high-protein, low-carb diet with lots of fruits and vegetables. She's also continued exercising by swimming, walking her dogs and playing recreational volleyball.

“I am basically walking proof that you do not have to go to the gym for it to work,” she said. "As long as you are not sitting on the couch.”

In total, Nupp has lost 110 pounds. Often people tell her they think weight-loss surgery is easy, but she says that she eats healthy and exercises, just like anyone who loses and maintains weight loss.

“It is not a one day fix. You have to change,” she said. “Putting in the work, it will pay off.”

While her original goal was to weigh 185 pounds — the thinnest she would have ever been as an adult— she now hopes to get to 165.

Chenise Nupp exceeded her goal of weighing 185 pounds and now weighs 175. She plans on losing 10 more pounds.Courtesy Chenise Nupp

“I’m trying to lose those last 10 pounds so I can say ‘Yes, I am a healthy weight,’” she said.

Since losing the weight, Nupp has been traveling frequently, feels more open to opportunities and has learned more about herself.